Author Archive: Daniel Engelke
Daniel currently resides in New York City working as a freelance writer and director. He is a graduate of the Film and Video department of Columbia College, specializing in Italian Neo-realism and French & British New Wave cinema.
Eyes Wide Shut
It’s been a decade or so since I’ve seen Eyes Wide Shut. Initially Kubrick’s final film about infidelity and the institution of marriage went way over my head. Returning to the film over 10 years later, I’m happy to say my opinion has changed. Eyes Wide Shut is set in New York City a few [...]
Carnage
Roman Polanski’s ‘Carnage’ is a difficult film to digest. From what I can tell of the director’s films is a focus on the ‘unwanted guest’. In ‘Carnage’ the invited (but very unwanted) guests are Nancy and Alan Covan. The Covan’s arrive at the house of Penelope and Michael Longstreet, after their children have had an [...]
Gun Street
MGM decided to unlock their Pandora’s box of ‘who knows what’ to the public in 2011. Over here at Film Monthly we were lucky enough to review some of these dusty gems, including the 1961 Western Gun Street. Gun Street tells the story of hard-line sheriff Chuck Morton. He and his deputy, Sam Freed, don’t [...]
A Dangerous Method
In my last semester of college I was lucky enough to take a class on Freudian psychology. While the class gave me anxiety concerning the underlying motives of the human mind, it also educated me on the personal life of Sigmund Freud. Thankfully enough, it appears David Cronenberg also took a class on the iconic [...]
King of Devil’s Island
Someone once told me, “If you’re only going to do 50% of the work, you should wear a sign saying so.” A film that lacks an apparent objective makes for a boring movie. I can think of no better example of this than King of Devil’s Island. King of Devil’s Island tells the story of [...]
Tabloid
“Kinky sex, religion, Mormon missionary, beauty queen, kidnapping. There was something in that story for everyone.” I couldn’t help but be excited for Tabloid. As an avid Errol Morris fan, the trailer’s tagline and “whodunit?” true story were enough to get me out of my house and into the theater. Tabloid tells the story of [...]
Dennis Farina and I talk about the role he was born to play in ‘The Last Rites of Joe May’!
I was quite excited to hear there was a chance to interview Dennis Farina. Remembering his memorable roles from Big Trouble and Snatch, I responded promptly to “snatch” the interview. Farina’s latest film, The Last Rites of Joe May, puts the actor in a role that he was born to play. Finding out that his [...]
Baaria
Giuseppe Tornatore’s Baaria is a masterpiece. Filled with notable Italian actors, Ennio Mrricone, and more than 35,000 extras, the film proves to be the director’s most grandiose to date. Saying that, looks can be deceiving. Baaria loosely follows the life of Giuseppe “Peppino” Torrenuova. Set in the small village of Bagheria (Baaria in Sicilian dialect), [...]
Submarine
Playing with Fire I’ve only recently encountered Richard Ayoade. First with the brilliant, but short-lived Garth Marengi’s Dark Place and later spoof office comedy The IT Crowd. As witty as Ayoade is, I always felt his humor was always edging on “too cool for school.” But the trailer of Submarine made me question my opinion. [...]
L’amour Fou
It’s been a while since I’ve sat down and watched a “serious” film. For the past few weeks I took a sabbatical to focus on Eddie Murphy’s less notable efforts (e.g. Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps). When the chance finally arose to watch L’amour Fou, a documentary on the life of fashion icon Yves Saint [...]
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